JH Sissons School awaiting retrofit
Project was sidelined in favour of St. Joe's, says public district superintendent
Evan Kiyoshi French
Northern News Services
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The public school that has been awaiting major renovations for more than 10 years won't be getting attention anytime soon because it's still safe, according to the territorial education department.
Tami Johnson, spokesperson for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, told Yellowknifer by e-mail that major renovations are considered when the condition of an existing building is 'unsafe.'
"Current inspections indicate that J.H. Sissons is safe for students," Johnson stated.
The school has been awaiting renovations since before 2006, when a fire at St. Joseph School bumped up repairs at that school, according to Metro Huculak, superintendent of Yellowknife Education District No. 1 (Yk1).
He said because the Catholic school has higher enrolment than Sissons, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment (ECE) opted to carry out work on that school first.
"Because of our utilization (being lower at J.H. Sissons School), Sissons has moved down the ladder for a retrofit. In fact, Sissons was supposed to be done before St. Joe's but because of the fire, St. Joe's had to get done," he said.
In order to accommodate the necessary renovations, the school will have to be shut down.
"It was built in 1975 and it needs a complete retrofit," he said. "It's got to be gutted, and totally redone with new walls, new air handling system. The boiler is not too old so it could probably be used again, but basically the school has to be shut down probably for a year-and-a-half."
Students would be redistributed between William McDonald School and new portables at N.J. MacPherson School, which were put there, in part, for that very reason, according to Huculak.
ECE estimated the cost of the retrofit at the public school to be around $18 million a couple years ago, said Huculak. Johnson did not say how much the GNWT now estimates the work will cost.
Huculak said he isn't holding his breath because there's no sign that the retrofit will happen in the near future.
"It won't happen in my time, I can tell you that right now," he said. "That will happen under another superintendent."
Huculak signed a two-year contract with the district this year.
The school became the centre of attention after the GNWT was ordered by the NWT Supreme Court to provide more space for the Commission scolaire francophone NWT in 2012, which caused the territorial government to turn to Yk1 because of its low enrolment. While exploring the option of giving up a public school for the French district – in lieu of making a payout for construction – handing over J.H. Sissons School became a topic of heated debate, according to John Stephenson, Yk1 board chairman.
The board heard from parents at Sissons, who mostly opposed the move and after looking at a number of options, the board voted to keep the status quo.
In January, a NWT Court of Appeal judge overturned the 2012 decision. A group of parents, L'Association Des Parents et Endroits, have taken the case to the Supreme Court of Canada and are waiting to hear if their case will be heard.
Popular school
Rachel Simmons, the J.H. Sisson's new principal, said the school is popular because of its prime location and dedicated staff.
"It's very close to where housing units have been for years," she said. "There's a lot of history that goes into a school, not just the building, and a lot of people come back with those memories.
"Why are we fighting for this school? Because it's a perfect location."
According to Johnson, a planning study would be an early necessary step to any renovations. "Once a planning study is completed, an accurate estimate of the cost to renovate J.H. Sissons (School) would be determined," she wrote.
Johnson stated there isn't a planning study underway and couldn't confirm that St. Joe's got priority for construction after the 2006 fire before press time.
